To add to my comment, this explains why SSRIs take some time to work - it's the signalling through the vagus nerve that takes time to impact the brain. Other compounds such as curcumin and famotidine (H2 antihsitamine) have also been found to work via this mechanism. For many many years scientists had dismissed curcumin as having no effect because it's not bioavailable - recent research has shown that it doesn't need to be if it directly activates your nervous system! There's a lot more research that needs to be done here, and I think promising therapeutics for impacting brain function are coming our way as researchers learn more.If you consider the brain a state machine, inputs from the nerves - through gut-brain axis, through your eyes and ears (socialising, environmental cues, sounds of safety vs sounds of threat), through your skin (touch) etc all impact the state. This state can range from safety to fight-or-flight (anxiety) to shutdown (depression). This is hugely simplified (for example neuroinflammation, endotoxins/LPS etc can impact this also) but I've found it very useful for regulating my own state and understanding why I feel happy, agitated, low etc.
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